Be Happy
by red-lunar-eclipse
Summary: A short, twisted story about Yoshi and why they're so happy.


It all started one day when a once-human named Jay woke up in the body of a yoshi.

He didn't know what to do with himself, was lost, and confused. It was neat at first, but he soon missed his home, family, and civilization. To add insult to his increasing despair, a group of shy guys started chasing him one stormy night.

Thankfully, he was rescued by real yoshis, and they knew exactly what to do with their new sad yoshi friend. The yoshis welcomed Jay into their happy, carefree village where they lived together and ate fruit all day. They gave him food, shelter, and introduced him to the yoshi way of life.

Jay was astounded by the yoshi's kind and hospitable nature. They were always giving, caring, and cheerful with each other. Life was idyllic, like a storybook or a fairytale. He started to forget his worries as he got caught up in it all. Though eventually, he started to realize that he was still deeply sad.

He wasn't a real yoshi and no matter how accepting the real yoshis were, he would never be like them. Unlike them, he was full of sadness and anger that lingered from his past, human life. He wanted to tell them how he really felt so they could understand him better, so one day, he did.

"I don't know what I would do without you all. I'm grateful. Sometimes I'm still sad and angry, but it's not your fault," he confessed to the yoshis as they all sat around in a fruit-eating circle.

An uneasy silence suddenly passed through the group.

Jay didn't expect such a reaction. They would normally be smiling and cheering. Now they looked at him with blank, alienated expressions that left him wondering if he shouldn't have said that.

"Uh uh," the yellow yoshi mumbled after a moment and shook its head disapprovingly.

"Uh uh what?" Jay asked, but was promptly silence by a mouthful of melon that Red shoved into his face. Jay's worries melted away like butter, eyes shining in delight as the sugary fruit met his tongue. It tasted even better as a yoshi!

If their tastebuds could be different, maybe their emotions were, too. Maybe yoshis just didn't feel sadness or anger.

They couldn't understand.

What the heck was he even down about, anyway? With a life like this?! With the path ahead paved in sugary delight and sunshine, he had nothing to worry about. He was just being down about nothing again.

"You really know how to live!" he then laughed it off, to which the other yoshis laughed with him and went back to eating fruit.

Jay had trouble sleeping that night, however. His mind kept wandering back to their stares. It bothered him.

He should bring it up with Yellow, he decided. They had become friends since he arrived. The next morning, when he and Yellow went out to forage, he asked, "so what happened yesterday? Why was everyone looking at me like I had a third eye?"

He could see Yellow's gaze dart back towards the village behind them. "Mmm... " Yellow mumbled, then got excited as he noticed a low hanging fruit to distract himself with and went for it.

"Is it that you don't feel negativity at all? I understand if it's unrelatable," Jay said and watched as Yellow shrank away from him. Ugh! Even his friend was blowing it off? "Can you not avoid me? I'm trying to confess something that's been bothersome. I feel like I don't belomng here." he tried more earnestly.

Yellow cringed visibly and waved his hands in concerned protest.

...Seriously? "So are we not allowed to have feelings around here? Is that it?" Jay asked. "Look, I used to have a family, friends, a job. All of that's gone now," he growled through gritted teeth.

Yellow shook his head vigorously and pointed to the sky where the clouds smiled down at them through rays of sunshine.

"Cut that garbage out, Yellow. I can't just smile it away," Jay replied angrily. "I'll never have my life back because I'm stuck on this island. The least you could do is acknowledge my suffering."

Yellow started dancing in place, directing him towards the happy cloud.

Jay was fed up. "Quit pretending this is okay. You don't have responsibilities, no stress, no work!" he snapped. "You don't do ANYTHING except sit around and eat fruit! Maybe you ARE incapable of being anything but happy go lucky freaks!"

The sky started to turn dark and a crack of thunder tore through the clouds.

Right on cue. It had been so bright and sunny just a second ago. Now he had to walk back in the rain!

Yellow shook his head in dispair. To Jay's surprise even now, to make everything just a little bit worse, the yellow yoshi ran off.

Jay roared with anger, holding back tears as his eyes burned at the corners. "You kidding me, man?! You're just going to run off?! I get it! You can't handle controversey or anything remotely negative! I should have known, this is just some fruity cult!" he yelled and threw a rock at the ground.

Yellow poked his head out of the bushes to look back one more time before vanishing.

"Shun me all you want! I don't care. I've already lost everyone I cared about," Jay snarled through his teeth and turned away, wondering if he had just lost his only friend.

Then he heard something rattling in the sky and looked up. Out of the clouds, a group of shy guys came down straight for him like an angry swarm of bees. Before they could grab him, the yoshis came. All of them. Yellow had brought the whole group and they unleashed a barage of eggs to fend off the shy guys, pulling Jay into the bushes.

Yellow made a happy greeting sound at Jay and offered him an umbrella, but Jay was too incredulous to take it. "What just happened?!"

He was angry, sad, confused, and then...

Just like before.

It suddenly clicked.

"You're not actually happy, are you? None of you." Jay realized out loud as he looked around at the group, eyes wide in disbelief.

The yoshis all glanced at each other, exchanging frowns and looking nervously towards the sky.

"You have to fake it or they'll come for you... " Jay said as he watched the shy guys leave.

A black yoshi stepped out and nodded, then hushed the group into silence as they waited for the storm to pass.

Jay was still trying to process what he had just learned. They were secretly living in fear and misery of which they could never express...

That was absolutely horrifying.

Strangely, he didn't feel so alone anymore.

Before he could give it more thought, a melon was shoved into Jay's face and he looked up, seeing Black waggle a finger at him disapprovingly. Black made an stern sound, then forced a smile. The rest of them started to smile and sing, taking out fruit to eat as they marched happily back to the village.


End file.
